1
New Year’s Eve. The
food is laid out on the table, everyone is in festive mode. Beth is sitting out
on the balcony, watching her brothers set up giant sparklers on the sidewalk.
She strokes her swelling belly. Being pregnant at sixteen is not easy, but she’s
determined to keep her child. She thinks of New Year’s resolutions to write in
her journal later on—go to college, make up for lost time with my parents, be a
good mom—while several meters away, a
stray bullet fired from a drunk policeman’s gun is hurtling its way to her
head.
“This is a hold-up,” the man hissed in Tamara’s ear while he
presses a gun to her neck. “Give me your wallet and your cellphone.” Tamara
wildly looks around for help. There is nobody else in sight.
“Please don’t kill me,” Tamara pleads. With shaking hands,
she reaches inside her bag and hands over her valuables. The man releases his
grip on her and manages a smirk. “By the way, this is a toy gun,” he mocks
before running away. In her rage, Tamara runs across the street to chase him. A
speeding truck hits her before she can scream.
The plot in the cemetery is ready. It’s a lovely patch with
wildflowers and Jun has already made an advance payment to the caretaker who
will be doing the grave maintenance. He has already bought the pine-wood coffin,
made reservations at the funeral parlour, estimated the number of guests who
will be coming. What he needs to do now is complete the list of songs to be
played at the wake. Jun has lung cancer. His doctors have given him only three
more months to live.
He ponders for a while then downloads Led Zeppelin’s
Stairway to Heaven from iTunes.
